iZombie: ‘Looking For Mr. Goodbrain Part 2’ Review

iZombie’s season finale brought with it unexpected twists and a status quo change that will make for a very different show going into the fourth season.

The episode opened with the resolution to last week’s cliff-hanger, and it seems that Natalie did perish in the blast. Team Z was told this by the surviving Major and Justin, who were both outside when the blast occurred. Liv then decided to tell Justin that she cheated on him, after he saw many of his friends die in horrific explosion. I like that Liv went full on honesty mode, but her timing was a little off. The opening is the weakest part of the episode only because of Liv and Justin’s fight. Their relationship wasn’t that well defined, so when it seemed like things were over I didn’t really care. Justin is now the only boyfriend Liv had to survive more than one season, though the ending scenes leaves that up to debate.

The episode then dealt with Liv and Clive tying together the various pieces of information they’ve acquired over the course of the season, and they got half of the Filmore Graves plot right. It turns out that while they were right about the influenza outbreak being a zombie plot, they were dead wrong about the intentions behind it, and they had the wrong suspect. Carry Gold, not Chase Graves, unleashed the virus with the intent of using the vaccine to infected all of Seattle with ‘zombieism’ (apparently the back up plan to zombie island). She even killed Vivian and Wally’s family to avoid complications. She then used their deaths to build anti-human sentiments in the zombie population. That was a good twist, as was Chase killing her quickly after the reveal. What’s more interesting is that Gold’s not alone in her agenda, so there is a movement that still seemingly exists despite her death.

The best thing about this episode was that the bad guys win, which is what makes the ending so good. Rather than focus on characters trying to defeat the villain plot, our heroes can only manage its outcome. This gave the characters a different challenge than previous seasons, and it allows the show to re-invent itself next season. Liv couldn’t fight Filmore Graves, so she just went to Johnny Frost and got him (after revealing that he was a zombie) to warn as many people as possible about the zombie infection. Graves had other plans, as he managed to create a plan to run the now Zombie majority population of Seattle. If anything, Liv’s plan did more harm, as it caused riots and the anti-zombie attack scene in the episode’s closing scenes. It adds layers of depth to the series, which is all the better for it.

The importance placed on Blaine’s bar makes sense with hindsight, as the series was setting up a very zombie dominated Seattle, tying his storyline back into the main narrative. That being said, Blaine’s role in the finale was minimal and dull, feeling more like a simple sitcom sub-plot than anything of real value. Blaine’s relationship arc with Peyton pretty much ends after the episode where he moped around alot, but considering how much he actually did care for her, it’s a shame this plot thread didn’t play a role in the finale.

Ravi’s role was also quite small, but he plays heavily into the season’s excellent cliff-hanger. Ravi seems to have perfected the vaccine by the episode’s end, but asks Liv to turn him into a zombie so Ravi can test its effectiveness. This builds a lot of suspense for season four, as his vaccine would be important with the growing number of zombies. Considering how much of the main cast is zombie now, I really hope his vaccine works. Speaking of the now large number of zombie characters, Agent Bozzio returned (!), having connected the Russian Hacker case from a previous episode to Blaine. Clive finally told her the truth and it seemed like they were in a really good place when they went to get their influenza vaccination shots. Well as mentioned earlier, those shot turn people into Zombies and Bozzio was no exception. This was a tragic turn for Clive and Bozzio, but one that will provide ample drama next season.

Major’s role in the finale was a sad one. Now that Natalie’s gone, Major feels angry and alone. Needing something to fight for he becomes a zombie again and re-joins Filmore Graves. Major seems to have finally found a purpose and a place to belong, but it comes from a very dark place. With not much left and not having a place of belonging beyond his friends (many of which are now dead as well), Major turns to something he’s been avoiding since the beginning of season two. Frankly the episode has a lot of tragedy, but this one is the most powerful.

Three more things to note. Liv’s zombie fight with Gold’s daughter and Tatum was fun to watch, with the far more experienced Liv easily defeating the two undead teens. I haven’t written much about Chase Graves, but he’s a great addition to the series. Charming, yet sinister, Jason Dohring’s performance is what made the twist work as well as it did. I’m happily awaiting his return next season. Finally, seeing the surviving zombie from the party bombing crawling without the lower half of his body, and then getting run over was gruesome fun.

iZombie ended it’s third season on a great note, with a powerful episode that drastically alters the series status quo, though not without a few minor hiccups. The status quo change has definitely got iZombie fans foaming at the mouth for season 4 (at least I am).

Mathew’s Rating – 8.8/10

What did you think of iZombie’s season three finale? What do you think of iZombie’s new status quo for season four? Leave a comment at the…

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Three friends talking about movies, video games, comic-books and anime. We do videos and articles. Be warned, you chose this. Site created by Nick Poulimenakos, Artur Galvao and Mathew 'JJ' Simoes.
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